July 10, 2025 • 23 mins
This podcast episode features an enlightening conversation with Max Emma, a distinguished leader who has transitioned from a corporate background into entrepreneurship. Max shares his remarkable journey from immigrating from the Soviet Union at the age of eighteen to establishing a successful franchise brokerage that assists individuals in pursuing their entrepreneurial aspirations. He emphasizes the significance of adaptability and resourcefulness in overcoming challenges, particularly in learning English and navigating the complexities of the corporate world. Throughout the discussion, Max elucidates his philosophy of servant leadership, highlighting his commitment to supporting clients by offering free services and sharing resources to ensure their success. This episode serves as a profound testament to the resilience required in leadership and the importance of fostering a nurturing environment for growth and opportunity.
The Unstoppable Leadership Spotlight podcast delves into the compelling narrative of Max Emma, a distinguished entrepreneur who has traversed the challenging journey from his origins in the Soviet Union to establishing a successful career in the United States. At the age of 18, he embarked on a new life, leaving behind his childhood and friends, armed only with the support of his family. Emma's resilience and determination are evident as he recounts his experiences of learning English through innovative methods, including engaging with credit card companies to practice conversational skills. This episode not only highlights his personal growth but also emphasizes the importance of adaptability in overcoming obstacles. Furthermore, we explore Emma's transition from the corporate sphere to entrepreneurship, where he now operates a franchise brokerage, assisting individuals in realizing their aspirations of business ownership. His brokerage offers an extensive portfolio of over 600 franchises, with services provided at no cost to candidates. Emma’s narrative encapsulates the essence of the American Dream, underscoring the significance of perseverance, strategic thinking, and the willingness to embrace change in the pursuit of success.
Takeaways:
- The journey of leadership often begins with the necessity to adapt to new environments and challenges, as illustrated by my experience of relocating to a foreign country at a young age.
- Effective leadership necessitates a proactive approach in engaging and empowering employees, ensuring their continuous growth and development within the organization.
- The significance of maintaining a work-life balance cannot be overstated, as it fosters both personal well-being and professional success, allowing for sustained productivity.
- Our unique business model not only provides free services to clients but also prioritizes their success through comprehensive support and resources, reflecting a commitment to servant leadership.
- Navigating the complexities of the corporate world often involves recognizing and addressing the limitations within organizational structures, which can hinder employee engagement and satisfaction.
- The importance of fostering genuine connections within the business community is paramount, as it can lead to fruitful collaborations and enhance overall business success.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Costco
- Bookscaping
- HR Block
- Liberty Tax
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:58):
Well, hello everybody, andwelcome to another amazing episode
of the Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast where we where
we hear from game changingleaders and their amazing insights
on how to be a great leaderand what you can do to maybe influence
your people, your team, toexcel. And I have a great guest today.
(01:19):
His name is Max Emma, and heis actually from the Soviet Union.
You actually came from herearound what age? 18, if that's correct,
and supported yourself throughcollege. You've been in the corporate
world and now you've opened upyour own franchise brokerage where
(01:40):
you help individuals pursuethe American dream by owning a franchise
and you help them choosebetween over 600 franchises, which
is really, really great. Andit says that your services are completely
free to any candidate. So youlove what you do, you love working.
(02:01):
You've got a few otherbusinesses that are wrapped in here.
So, Max, welcome to theUnstoppable Leadership Spotlight
podcast.
Thank you, Jaclyn. It's greatto be here.
So tell me, Max, so youobviously had to do quite a bit to,
to lead yourself to where youare. So what do you think took you
(02:22):
to do that?
Well, it's a great question. Ithink it's the fact that I did not
have a choice, you know, whenI came to this country at the age
of 18, which was over 32 yearsago, so I had to start brand new
life and, you know, living mychildhood, my friends behind. Luckily,
(02:45):
I came with my parents and mybrother already was living in the
United States. So it wasn'tjust me by myself. I did have a family
support, but I didn't have anyfriends. So I had to start from,
from scratch. So movingforward and not stopping wasn't,
you know, an option. That wasthe only choice that we made when
(03:10):
we moved to this country.
Oh. So I'm curious, when youfirst got here, did you jump right
into college or did you haveto wait a bit before you got into
college?
So I was taking Englishclasses, which it wasn't helping
me. And we came in January andI went to community college in September.
(03:33):
But I developed my own systemto learn English because again, the
ESL classes did not help me toexcel. So I was like, okay, how do
I think outside of the box?And I've always been since I was
a little kid, like, how do Ibeat the system? I mean, so my beating
the system of learning Englishwas actually calling different credit
(03:55):
card companies. And at thattime, all the support centers were
in the United States. And sofor 40, 45 minutes, I was talking
to a native speaker about whyI cannot have a credit card in the
United States. Duh. I mean, Ididn't have a credit history. I knew
that. But for 45 minutes we'regoing back and forth and finally
we're done. I was calling adifferent credit card company. I
(04:16):
was doing that two, threehours a day, every day. And so at
no time, well, actually it wastime I started speaking and understanding
and that helped me a lot. So Iwent to college, I found a good job.
I worked for Costco for fiveyears while I was going through college.
And you know, they even paid,even gave me a scholarship to go
(04:38):
to, to school. So it was, itwas a great experience. I mean, I've
worked with a lot of peopleand that was great. But it's all
started with, with learning English.
That's learning English.Really key right there. Really, really
key. So tell me. I'm soimportant to me. So tell me. You
know, you know, right now youhave, you have a business, bookkeeping.
(05:05):
You are in corporate. And Iwant to go back to the corporate
world for a minute becauseyou, you, you spent four years in
corporate finance and you saidit wasn't really for you and you
gave your two weeks notice andyou had a family landscape business.
But I want to go to thatcorporate job, you know, what did
(05:26):
you not like about that job?Why wasn't it for you?
Well, so I'm always jokingthat I wasn't very good in kissing
butts. I was always kissingthe wrong ones because it didn't
help me to move on in thecorporate ladder. But being serious,
it just, they couldn't keep mebusy enough. So I worked for a great
(05:48):
company and I learned a lot.And part of my functions, what I
was doing, they had to have itin order to do like corporate reporting,
one to maybe two weeks amonth. And they just did not have
anything for me for the othertwo weeks. Which, you know, they
didn't mind me doing nothing.But it wasn't just for me. I'm like,
(06:09):
okay, keep me busy. And atsome point I was asking for project,
I was asking for projects andthey didn't have them. After I was
done with whatever needed tobe done, again, I had to be there
for two weeks. But the financeand accounting department for the
company was probably 300people because this was a huge, huge
company and I was just bored.And that was the biggest challenge
(06:34):
for me. I'm like, I'm young, Iwant to do something and I have to
come to work. I can't just notgo to work. For a week. But there
was nothing there for me to do.
So. Okay, so leaders, I wantyou to just listen to this for a
minute.
What?
He's just saying if you've gotan employee and they're asking for
work, you need to lead them. Imean, obviously things could have
(06:56):
been a little different if youhad had a leader there who recognized
this in you and said, oh,we've got a good one with Max. Let's
work with him to elevate himso that there's more work. Right?
Yes, but look, it was a bigcompany and again, nothing wrong
with the company, but they hadan org chart and my responsibility
(07:18):
was to do that. So they wouldhave to think outside of the box.
How would we keep him busy fortwo weeks? They would not be able
to give me to a marketingdepartment for two weeks because
again, 10,000 employees. Soit's like, well, we have to be there
because we need your functionfor the months and close or for the
quarter and close because wehave to have the books. It's a publicly
(07:38):
traded company, so we have ourprocess that we have to follow. So
now, because my companies areway smaller than that, I tell all
my direct reports when we hirea new person, I'm like, make sure
this person is staying busy.Make sure that this person has opportunity
to grow, learn new things. Idon't have a problem if they do accounting
(08:00):
and then for 10 hours a weekthey do social media. I'm fine with
that. I want people to bemulti talented and multitasking.
But again, it's easy for me todo. I'm the CEO and there are my
businesses. And again, we'renot a publicly traded company. But
for big companies that wouldnot happen.
Right. So that's reallyinteresting. So it could happen.
(08:21):
It's just not how theyoperate. So talk about your companies
now. So you, you obviouslyexperience this where you had that
and so talk to me about thecompanies that you have and how many
employees do you have and, andwhat's it like being a CEO?
It's fun. I'm not going tochange it for the world. So I've
been on my own for almost 23years now. Last day at corporate
(08:46):
was July 3rd, 2002. So July4th was my real freedom day. That's
the day that I became free.Seriously. And I celebrated. You
know, when there is afireworks on July 4, it has double
meaning for me. Me. Okay,that's my, that's my, that's my freedom
day. It's not only the U.S.freedom, it's my freedom day. But
(09:08):
it's fun, it's challenging, itis lonely at the top. But again,
I will not change it foranything else. And the way I operate
now, I've had many businessesbefore I got to where I am right
now. And I'm grateful for allof them. Some of them failed and
(09:29):
I had to go throughbankruptcy, both personal and business,
only to get back on my feet,start again from scratch. And you
know, was we were moresuccessful second time around and
we were able to sell thebusiness. But then we ended up doing
bookkeeping and it came as anecessity because we were just missing
(09:50):
the financial data. So westarted the bookkeeping company called
Bookscaping. And then at somepoint by accident, we started working
for franchise brands and westarted working for one. Then more
and more and more, I'm like, Istarted being around franchisors
and I absolutely loved it. Ilove to be around these people. I
(10:10):
loved how friendly they are,how they're willing to help and spend
time with you. I'm like, whenI grow up, I want to be like them.
And so they that gave me anidea to franchise books keeping as
the concept. So now we'reselling our own bookkeeping franchises
in the United States. Weactually the only true bookkeeping
(10:31):
franchise available in on themarket in America. There are obviously
HR blocks and liberty taxes ofthe world that provide both taxes
and bookkeeping. We just dothe bookkeeping. That's why we get
a lot of referrals from CPAs.So that was the second business.
Still is. And I don't knowwhich one is the more important because
(10:53):
that's all running together.But then after I've done that for
a few years and I got teams inevery business, there is no way I
would be able to do it bymyself. So I have teams, I have reports.
Who do you know? Most of thework my job is to do strategical
thinking and have a vision forthe company. I figured that if somebody
(11:16):
not a good match forbookkeeping franchise, we would lose
them and we would not be ableto provide the value. So I open franchise
brokerage. And now if somebodynot a good match for bookkeeping,
because let's be honest,accounting is not for everybody,
then we can help to choosefrom over 600 different brands. And
as you said, Jaclyn, ourservices are free, 100% free to candidate.
(11:41):
We do get paid, but only incase they end up buying a franchise.
We get commissions from thefranchisor. Okay, so then, so I do,
I. I do get commission. So I'mnot working for free, but our services
are free to get it.
Yeah, you're like a travelagent. The travel, travel booking
is actually free for theconsumer. The travel agent gets a
(12:06):
commission from the travelagent. I mean from the airlines or
the.
Absolutely. But my job is toactually in a lot of times buy in
the industry for them. Likefor example, I'm working with somebody
right now who has a successfulcareer and so does his wife. But
they're looking for a businessto have, you know, extra money. So
(12:27):
they don't want to spend a lotof time on the business. They not
sure what business that shouldbe. So by talking to them, by doing
the research, we actuallyfound a tanning salon which is great
because you know, they willneed to spend time in the business
but maybe few days a week fora few hours so they don't have to
(12:48):
be there all the time. It'snot like a restaurant where you have
to leave there, you know, 247. So they don't have this time and
they don't want to do it. Butit's potentially great returns and
not a huge investment becausethe square footage print is very,
very small. So that's what wedo. It's not just, you know, somebody
(13:09):
comes in and say, I want tobuy McDonald's. They don't need a
broker. They just callMcDonald's and buy one. Even though
there are no territoriesavailable in the US because the whole
country is sold. But ifthey're like, I want a restaurant,
we can help them to choose.Okay, do you want a pizza place?
Do you want, you know, healthydining burger joint? I mean, what
(13:32):
is it? Coffee? Do you want?You know, mobile food truck business?
So that, that's the job of abroker. But again, if and when they
buy, we get commission. ButI'm actually going one way further.
I share part of my commissionswith the candidate. We pay nine months
(13:53):
of their sales training. Sothey get a life sales trainer for
nine months. Because I wantthem to be successful, I want them
to build a business and thencome back and say I want to buy business.
So out of my commission we arepaying for that and also we give
them a rebate from, from thecommission that I get. So because
this is not a main businessfor me, I, I mean I'm not depending
(14:15):
100 on this profit, so I'mwilling to share it with.
That's super great. That'sreally great. It's actually a really
great model because you'reactually giving, you're really, you're,
you're following that wholeservant leadership role because you're,
you're helping, you're givingto, you know, it's, you know, it's
like the go get the. I justactually interviewed Bob Burke who's
(14:36):
wrote the Go Giver series. Andit's that whole mentality of being
able to give. So I really lovethat. So while you're doing this
and you're looking at thefranchises, are you evaluating the
leadership of the franchisesand would you say, you know, could
somebody say to you, hey Max,I'm looking at blank, blank, blank
franchise. Have you ever doneanything and would you then say run
(15:00):
like their leadership stinksor you know what I mean?
Well, I do look at theleadership and because we are preferred
franchise preferred, sorry,bookkeeping provider for 100 plus
brands. And I work a lot withfranchises, being a franchisor. I
know a lot of the leadersmyself. And just yesterday I came
(15:23):
back from a large conferencein Phoenix, Arizona and so a lot
of CEOs were there. So when wedo the valuation and let's say somebody
wants to buy, you know,plumbing franchise, I just tell them,
hey, you have five choicesthat are available in your hometown.
But I do know two CEOspersonally, okay? And I know that
(15:47):
one of them is going to beavailable to you if you need his
help. And obviously ifsomebody has 2,000 units, there is
no way the CEO be available.They have like the tiers. That's
why I tell people you have anadvantage buying books, keeping franchise
at this point while we have 15franchisees. Because you have my
(16:08):
number on your speed dial whenwe get to a certain level. Not because
I don't like you, I'm stillgoing to talk to you, but I will
not be able to talk to you.You know, same day when I have 100
franchisees. So take advantageof talking to see people while the
franchise is small, okay? Butsome people like, okay, I don't care.
(16:30):
I'll talk to you know,corporate trainer. But I want a franchise
that has, you know, 500 units.Okay? So here is an option for you.
So we ask all of that. I neverbad mousing anything and so I'm not
going to go and say this is abad leader. This is the good leader.
Because you every coin has twosides, okay? Only because somebody
(16:50):
said this is a bad leader. Itdoesn't mean that this is a bad person.
Okay? For example, you know,my team still may I have part. I
have some people who've beenwith me for over 10 years and when
me and my co founder who Wasmy wife at a time we were speaking
Russian in my office becausethe way we speak, they thought we're
(17:12):
killing each other, but wewere just passionate about the business.
They still laughing right now.They're like, oh, Max and Elena talking.
Something is going on. And wewere just, you know, passionate about,
you know, the way how we'regonna structure the business, how
we're gonna grow, what otheravenues we're gonna explore. So that's
why if you just listen tothem, oh, they are, you know, mean
(17:36):
to each other, but that's nottrue. So you always have to hear
two sides of the story. That'swhy I would be very careful about,
you know, passing the judgment.
That's really, that's good.So, you know, it's great that you're
providing these, this servicefor people. So what's, what is the
biggest thing that's next foryou in your business? And where.
(17:57):
Do you know, where's the.Where you want to grow?
I want to grow by delegatingmajority of my functions. And I'm
getting better and better. Iwas brought up as the micromanager.
I had to be involved in everystep of the way. My team hated me,
I hated myself. It limited mygrowth. When I learned to give up
(18:22):
a lot of functions and letother people doing it, that's when
I was able to open the secondbusiness and the third business.
And, you know, I might openmore businesses because again, I'm
not involved 24 7. And look,for me, work, life, balance has different
meanings. Life, work, balance,life come first. You know, I want
(18:45):
to travel. I want to spendtime with my kids. I want to go see
a lot of Broadway shows. Iwant to go and have a great cigar
with scotch. So I want time tomyself. I want to go to gym. So I,
I have this thing at certaintime, like everything is scheduled
in my calendar. If it says I'mgoing to a gym, I'm shutting down
(19:08):
the computer. And no matterhow much work I have done, I'm done
for the day because I've beenthere, done that. You know, it's
11 o' clock at night and I'mstill at the computer. And I did
not have lunch or dinnerbecause there is so much stuff going
on. I only can do it for solong. And after that you get tired.
So I'm like, okay, it's 4 o'clock or 5 o' clock, whatever. I
(19:29):
decided that day I'm going tobe working. Okay, done. I'm. I'm
done. And I'm not opening thecomputer when I come back. So I'm
very, as I said, I'm very goodat it. But I'm learning how to become
better and better. And that'swhat I think makes person successful.
When you actually can limityourself on the number of hours you
work in. Because, you know,being a workaholic is wonderful when
(19:53):
you are 23, 25, but at somepoint it just gets. Gets you.
Yeah. You know, so, listeners,I really want you to take that. And
this is actually a reallyimportant insight as a leader. You
know, as a leader, being ableto put things on your calendar and
make time for yourself and beable to teach your team that too.
(20:14):
Because being part of aworkaholic society or being part
of a workaholic culture neveractually ends up serving anybody
well. And that you first andforemost have to take care of yourself.
And as Max said, he putseverything on his calendar. And I
would tell you, put everythingon your calendar. The things that
matter the most show up onyour calendar if. Yeah, so do that.
(20:38):
That is a great insight. So,Max, I could talk to you all day.
I'm curious how. What is thebest way for people to connect with
you?
So the best way is to actuallyconnect with me through franchisewithmax.com
you can go on this website anddecide if you want to talk to me
(20:59):
about buying a bookkeepingfranchise, if you need bookkeeping
for your business, or if youneed help to have a business on the
site, which is a franchise. Atsome point, you'll end up talking
to me no matter which one youchoose. But I have different teams
of people that would take youthrough all the questions, understand
(21:20):
what you're looking for, so wecan serve you better. So franchise
with Max.com is absolutely thebest way to get a hold of me or LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is fine as well. It'sMax Emma on LinkedIn.
Okay, well, absolutelyperfect. So listeners, reach out
to Max, go to his website,Franchise with Max, also connect
with him on LinkedIn. It'struly remarkable what he's doing
(21:43):
and. And what a great serviceyou are offering. So I really appreciate
that. So this is UnstoppableLeadership Spotlight podcast. I'm
your host, Jaclyn StromingerIf you've gotten great tips from
this, which I'm sure you have,click, subscribe. And remember, I
said please reach out to Maxand be unstoppable.
Well, hello everybody, andwelcome to another amazing episode
of the Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast where we where
we hear from game changingleaders and their amazing insights
on how to be a great leaderand what you can do to maybe influence
your people, your team, toexcel. And I have a great guest today.
(01:19):
His name is Max Emma, and heis actually from the Soviet Union.
You actually came from herearound what age? 18, if that's correct,
and supported yourself throughcollege. You've been in the corporate
world and now you've opened upyour own franchise brokerage where
(01:40):
you help individuals pursuethe American dream by owning a franchise
and you help them choosebetween over 600 franchises, which
is really, really great. Andit says that your services are completely
free to any candidate. So youlove what you do, you love working.
(02:01):
You've got a few otherbusinesses that are wrapped in here.
So, Max, welcome to theUnstoppable Leadership Spotlight
podcast.
Thank you, Jaclyn. It's greatto be here.
So tell me, Max, so youobviously had to do quite a bit to,
to lead yourself to where youare. So what do you think took you
(02:22):
to do that?
Well, it's a great question. Ithink it's the fact that I did not
have a choice, you know, whenI came to this country at the age
of 18, which was over 32 yearsago, so I had to start brand new
life and, you know, living mychildhood, my friends behind. Luckily,
(02:45):
I came with my parents and mybrother already was living in the
United States. So it wasn'tjust me by myself. I did have a family
support, but I didn't have anyfriends. So I had to start from,
from scratch. So movingforward and not stopping wasn't,
you know, an option. That wasthe only choice that we made when
(03:10):
we moved to this country.
Oh. So I'm curious, when youfirst got here, did you jump right
into college or did you haveto wait a bit before you got into
college?
So I was taking Englishclasses, which it wasn't helping
me. And we came in January andI went to community college in September.
(03:33):
But I developed my own systemto learn English because again, the
ESL classes did not help me toexcel. So I was like, okay, how do
I think outside of the box?And I've always been since I was
a little kid, like, how do Ibeat the system? I mean, so my beating
the system of learning Englishwas actually calling different credit
(03:55):
card companies. And at thattime, all the support centers were
in the United States. And sofor 40, 45 minutes, I was talking
to a native speaker about whyI cannot have a credit card in the
United States. Duh. I mean, Ididn't have a credit history. I knew
that. But for 45 minutes we'regoing back and forth and finally
we're done. I was calling adifferent credit card company. I
(04:16):
was doing that two, threehours a day, every day. And so at
no time, well, actually it wastime I started speaking and understanding
and that helped me a lot. So Iwent to college, I found a good job.
I worked for Costco for fiveyears while I was going through college.
And you know, they even paid,even gave me a scholarship to go
(04:38):
to, to school. So it was, itwas a great experience. I mean, I've
worked with a lot of peopleand that was great. But it's all
started with, with learning English.
That's learning English.Really key right there. Really, really
key. So tell me. I'm soimportant to me. So tell me. You
know, you know, right now youhave, you have a business, bookkeeping.
(05:05):
You are in corporate. And Iwant to go back to the corporate
world for a minute becauseyou, you, you spent four years in
corporate finance and you saidit wasn't really for you and you
gave your two weeks notice andyou had a family landscape business.
But I want to go to thatcorporate job, you know, what did
(05:26):
you not like about that job?Why wasn't it for you?
Well, so I'm always jokingthat I wasn't very good in kissing
butts. I was always kissingthe wrong ones because it didn't
help me to move on in thecorporate ladder. But being serious,
it just, they couldn't keep mebusy enough. So I worked for a great
(05:48):
company and I learned a lot.And part of my functions, what I
was doing, they had to have itin order to do like corporate reporting,
one to maybe two weeks amonth. And they just did not have
anything for me for the othertwo weeks. Which, you know, they
didn't mind me doing nothing.But it wasn't just for me. I'm like,
(06:09):
okay, keep me busy. And atsome point I was asking for project,
I was asking for projects andthey didn't have them. After I was
done with whatever needed tobe done, again, I had to be there
for two weeks. But the financeand accounting department for the
company was probably 300people because this was a huge, huge
company and I was just bored.And that was the biggest challenge
(06:34):
for me. I'm like, I'm young, Iwant to do something and I have to
come to work. I can't just notgo to work. For a week. But there
was nothing there for me to do.
So. Okay, so leaders, I wantyou to just listen to this for a
minute.
What?
He's just saying if you've gotan employee and they're asking for
work, you need to lead them. Imean, obviously things could have
(06:56):
been a little different if youhad had a leader there who recognized
this in you and said, oh,we've got a good one with Max. Let's
work with him to elevate himso that there's more work. Right?
Yes, but look, it was a bigcompany and again, nothing wrong
with the company, but they hadan org chart and my responsibility
(07:18):
was to do that. So they wouldhave to think outside of the box.
How would we keep him busy fortwo weeks? They would not be able
to give me to a marketingdepartment for two weeks because
again, 10,000 employees. Soit's like, well, we have to be there
because we need your functionfor the months and close or for the
quarter and close because wehave to have the books. It's a publicly
(07:38):
traded company, so we have ourprocess that we have to follow. So
now, because my companies areway smaller than that, I tell all
my direct reports when we hirea new person, I'm like, make sure
this person is staying busy.Make sure that this person has opportunity
to grow, learn new things. Idon't have a problem if they do accounting
(08:00):
and then for 10 hours a weekthey do social media. I'm fine with
that. I want people to bemulti talented and multitasking.
But again, it's easy for me todo. I'm the CEO and there are my
businesses. And again, we'renot a publicly traded company. But
for big companies that wouldnot happen.
Right. So that's reallyinteresting. So it could happen.
(08:21):
It's just not how theyoperate. So talk about your companies
now. So you, you obviouslyexperience this where you had that
and so talk to me about thecompanies that you have and how many
employees do you have and, andwhat's it like being a CEO?
It's fun. I'm not going tochange it for the world. So I've
been on my own for almost 23years now. Last day at corporate
(08:46):
was July 3rd, 2002. So July4th was my real freedom day. That's
the day that I became free.Seriously. And I celebrated. You
know, when there is afireworks on July 4, it has double
meaning for me. Me. Okay,that's my, that's my, that's my freedom
day. It's not only the U.S.freedom, it's my freedom day. But
(09:08):
it's fun, it's challenging, itis lonely at the top. But again,
I will not change it foranything else. And the way I operate
now, I've had many businessesbefore I got to where I am right
now. And I'm grateful for allof them. Some of them failed and
(09:29):
I had to go throughbankruptcy, both personal and business,
only to get back on my feet,start again from scratch. And you
know, was we were moresuccessful second time around and
we were able to sell thebusiness. But then we ended up doing
bookkeeping and it came as anecessity because we were just missing
(09:50):
the financial data. So westarted the bookkeeping company called
Bookscaping. And then at somepoint by accident, we started working
for franchise brands and westarted working for one. Then more
and more and more, I'm like, Istarted being around franchisors
and I absolutely loved it. Ilove to be around these people. I
(10:10):
loved how friendly they are,how they're willing to help and spend
time with you. I'm like, whenI grow up, I want to be like them.
And so they that gave me anidea to franchise books keeping as
the concept. So now we'reselling our own bookkeeping franchises
in the United States. Weactually the only true bookkeeping
(10:31):
franchise available in on themarket in America. There are obviously
HR blocks and liberty taxes ofthe world that provide both taxes
and bookkeeping. We just dothe bookkeeping. That's why we get
a lot of referrals from CPAs.So that was the second business.
Still is. And I don't knowwhich one is the more important because
(10:53):
that's all running together.But then after I've done that for
a few years and I got teams inevery business, there is no way I
would be able to do it bymyself. So I have teams, I have reports.
Who do you know? Most of thework my job is to do strategical
thinking and have a vision forthe company. I figured that if somebody
(11:16):
not a good match forbookkeeping franchise, we would lose
them and we would not be ableto provide the value. So I open franchise
brokerage. And now if somebodynot a good match for bookkeeping,
because let's be honest,accounting is not for everybody,
then we can help to choosefrom over 600 different brands. And
as you said, Jaclyn, ourservices are free, 100% free to candidate.
(11:41):
We do get paid, but only incase they end up buying a franchise.
We get commissions from thefranchisor. Okay, so then, so I do,
I. I do get commission. So I'mnot working for free, but our services
are free to get it.
Yeah, you're like a travelagent. The travel, travel booking
is actually free for theconsumer. The travel agent gets a
(12:06):
commission from the travelagent. I mean from the airlines or
the.
Absolutely. But my job is toactually in a lot of times buy in
the industry for them. Likefor example, I'm working with somebody
right now who has a successfulcareer and so does his wife. But
they're looking for a businessto have, you know, extra money. So
(12:27):
they don't want to spend a lotof time on the business. They not
sure what business that shouldbe. So by talking to them, by doing
the research, we actuallyfound a tanning salon which is great
because you know, they willneed to spend time in the business
but maybe few days a week fora few hours so they don't have to
(12:48):
be there all the time. It'snot like a restaurant where you have
to leave there, you know, 247. So they don't have this time and
they don't want to do it. Butit's potentially great returns and
not a huge investment becausethe square footage print is very,
very small. So that's what wedo. It's not just, you know, somebody
(13:09):
comes in and say, I want tobuy McDonald's. They don't need a
broker. They just callMcDonald's and buy one. Even though
there are no territoriesavailable in the US because the whole
country is sold. But ifthey're like, I want a restaurant,
we can help them to choose.Okay, do you want a pizza place?
Do you want, you know, healthydining burger joint? I mean, what
(13:32):
is it? Coffee? Do you want?You know, mobile food truck business?
So that, that's the job of abroker. But again, if and when they
buy, we get commission. ButI'm actually going one way further.
I share part of my commissionswith the candidate. We pay nine months
(13:53):
of their sales training. Sothey get a life sales trainer for
nine months. Because I wantthem to be successful, I want them
to build a business and thencome back and say I want to buy business.
So out of my commission we arepaying for that and also we give
them a rebate from, from thecommission that I get. So because
this is not a main businessfor me, I, I mean I'm not depending
(14:15):
100 on this profit, so I'mwilling to share it with.
That's super great. That'sreally great. It's actually a really
great model because you'reactually giving, you're really, you're,
you're following that wholeservant leadership role because you're,
you're helping, you're givingto, you know, it's, you know, it's
like the go get the. I justactually interviewed Bob Burke who's
(14:36):
wrote the Go Giver series. Andit's that whole mentality of being
able to give. So I really lovethat. So while you're doing this
and you're looking at thefranchises, are you evaluating the
leadership of the franchisesand would you say, you know, could
somebody say to you, hey Max,I'm looking at blank, blank, blank
franchise. Have you ever doneanything and would you then say run
(15:00):
like their leadership stinksor you know what I mean?
Well, I do look at theleadership and because we are preferred
franchise preferred, sorry,bookkeeping provider for 100 plus
brands. And I work a lot withfranchises, being a franchisor. I
know a lot of the leadersmyself. And just yesterday I came
(15:23):
back from a large conferencein Phoenix, Arizona and so a lot
of CEOs were there. So when wedo the valuation and let's say somebody
wants to buy, you know,plumbing franchise, I just tell them,
hey, you have five choicesthat are available in your hometown.
But I do know two CEOspersonally, okay? And I know that
(15:47):
one of them is going to beavailable to you if you need his
help. And obviously ifsomebody has 2,000 units, there is
no way the CEO be available.They have like the tiers. That's
why I tell people you have anadvantage buying books, keeping franchise
at this point while we have 15franchisees. Because you have my
(16:08):
number on your speed dial whenwe get to a certain level. Not because
I don't like you, I'm stillgoing to talk to you, but I will
not be able to talk to you.You know, same day when I have 100
franchisees. So take advantageof talking to see people while the
franchise is small, okay? Butsome people like, okay, I don't care.
(16:30):
I'll talk to you know,corporate trainer. But I want a franchise
that has, you know, 500 units.Okay? So here is an option for you.
So we ask all of that. I neverbad mousing anything and so I'm not
going to go and say this is abad leader. This is the good leader.
Because you every coin has twosides, okay? Only because somebody
(16:50):
said this is a bad leader. Itdoesn't mean that this is a bad person.
Okay? For example, you know,my team still may I have part. I
have some people who've beenwith me for over 10 years and when
me and my co founder who Wasmy wife at a time we were speaking
Russian in my office becausethe way we speak, they thought we're
(17:12):
killing each other, but wewere just passionate about the business.
They still laughing right now.They're like, oh, Max and Elena talking.
Something is going on. And wewere just, you know, passionate about,
you know, the way how we'regonna structure the business, how
we're gonna grow, what otheravenues we're gonna explore. So that's
why if you just listen tothem, oh, they are, you know, mean
(17:36):
to each other, but that's nottrue. So you always have to hear
two sides of the story. That'swhy I would be very careful about,
you know, passing the judgment.
That's really, that's good.So, you know, it's great that you're
providing these, this servicefor people. So what's, what is the
biggest thing that's next foryou in your business? And where.
(17:57):
Do you know, where's the.Where you want to grow?
I want to grow by delegatingmajority of my functions. And I'm
getting better and better. Iwas brought up as the micromanager.
I had to be involved in everystep of the way. My team hated me,
I hated myself. It limited mygrowth. When I learned to give up
(18:22):
a lot of functions and letother people doing it, that's when
I was able to open the secondbusiness and the third business.
And, you know, I might openmore businesses because again, I'm
not involved 24 7. And look,for me, work, life, balance has different
meanings. Life, work, balance,life come first. You know, I want
(18:45):
to travel. I want to spendtime with my kids. I want to go see
a lot of Broadway shows. Iwant to go and have a great cigar
with scotch. So I want time tomyself. I want to go to gym. So I,
I have this thing at certaintime, like everything is scheduled
in my calendar. If it says I'mgoing to a gym, I'm shutting down
(19:08):
the computer. And no matterhow much work I have done, I'm done
for the day because I've beenthere, done that. You know, it's
11 o' clock at night and I'mstill at the computer. And I did
not have lunch or dinnerbecause there is so much stuff going
on. I only can do it for solong. And after that you get tired.
So I'm like, okay, it's 4 o'clock or 5 o' clock, whatever. I
(19:29):
decided that day I'm going tobe working. Okay, done. I'm. I'm
done. And I'm not opening thecomputer when I come back. So I'm
very, as I said, I'm very goodat it. But I'm learning how to become
better and better. And that'swhat I think makes person successful.
When you actually can limityourself on the number of hours you
work in. Because, you know,being a workaholic is wonderful when
(19:53):
you are 23, 25, but at somepoint it just gets. Gets you.
Yeah. You know, so, listeners,I really want you to take that. And
this is actually a reallyimportant insight as a leader. You
know, as a leader, being ableto put things on your calendar and
make time for yourself and beable to teach your team that too.
(20:14):
Because being part of aworkaholic society or being part
of a workaholic culture neveractually ends up serving anybody
well. And that you first andforemost have to take care of yourself.
And as Max said, he putseverything on his calendar. And I
would tell you, put everythingon your calendar. The things that
matter the most show up onyour calendar if. Yeah, so do that.
(20:38):
That is a great insight. So,Max, I could talk to you all day.
I'm curious how. What is thebest way for people to connect with
you?
So the best way is to actuallyconnect with me through franchisewithmax.com
you can go on this website anddecide if you want to talk to me
(20:59):
about buying a bookkeepingfranchise, if you need bookkeeping
for your business, or if youneed help to have a business on the
site, which is a franchise. Atsome point, you'll end up talking
to me no matter which one youchoose. But I have different teams
of people that would take youthrough all the questions, understand
(21:20):
what you're looking for, so wecan serve you better. So franchise
with Max.com is absolutely thebest way to get a hold of me or LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is fine as well. It'sMax Emma on LinkedIn.
Okay, well, absolutelyperfect. So listeners, reach out
to Max, go to his website,Franchise with Max, also connect
with him on LinkedIn. It'struly remarkable what he's doing
(21:43):
and. And what a great serviceyou are offering. So I really appreciate
that. So this is UnstoppableLeadership Spotlight podcast. I'm
your host, Jaclyn StromingerIf you've gotten great tips from
this, which I'm sure you have,click, subscribe. And remember, I
said please reach out to Maxand be unstoppable.
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